The Iron Men – Reprised

Two weeks ago I blogged about taking Riley to Crosby Beach and Sir Anthony Gormley’s Another Place. You can read the first installment here.

This May bank holiday Monday dawned wet and miserable, (as is usually the norm!) I did not want to stay stuck indoors at home, however warm I would be. I wanted to have an adventure, getting wet and sandy would be par of the course!

Another Place, Crosby

I managed to get David to agree on another trip to Crosby Beach, even if it was drizzling. Riley was excited to tag along! Indeed he was sitting at the front door waiting for me to come and collect him! 🙂

The journey to Crosby Beach, and the coastguard car park took 30 minutes from Liverpool. I thought the journey would never end. Poor Riley get’s car sick and it was something I was hoping to prevent.

Finally we arrived under a grey leaden sky. The tide was out but the rain showered down like arrows! We paid £1 for two hours. It seems all the car parks are pay and display now.

The car park is only a stones throw from the beach and it was not long before Riley’s lead was off and we were running across the wet sand, throwing the ball for Riley to chase.

We got soaked to the skin, Riley even more! Let’s just say we had to give him a bath afterwards!

Riley

Another Place

The figures of Sir Anthony Gormely’s Another Place were even more atmospheric in poor light and bad weather. Somehow they looked wistful.

I took my GoPro along with me and filmed Riley having fun. Below is a montage, I hope you enjoy!

I’m sure another trip will be on the cards in future!

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Sunday Sevens #31

I really enjoy collating pictures from the week and writing a summary in the form of a Sunday Sevens, devised by Natalie, however this post is slightly later than usual. Oops!

This week, David and I have spent more time in the yarden due to the weather being glorious! Most of the week in the NW of England saw temperatures soar to 28°C. It was a taster of what summer could be like if the winds are favourable.

Recently we have been talking about getting a watering hole for the resident birds during the summer months. This week saw David came home with a big box! It took me totally by surprise. David had visited his staff shop and acquired a bargain. He’d bought a Bernini fountain for £10, it should have been £100! As you can imagine with the weather hotting up this week, the fountain has been a welcome addition to the yarden!

The yarden continues to amaze. I noticed some foam that looked like eggs. I Googled it and found that the foam is a cover against predators by an aphid like insect called a spittlebug. They are classed as garden pests, but I think I’ll let this one be.

 

Spittlebug

Silver Y Moth

I also snapped this picture of a striking silver y moth, though it can be confused with a ni moth. Any moth aficionados, do let me know if you think I have the wrong identification!

Bees: This week I received my Friends of the Earth, Bee Saver Kit. For a small donation you get this lovely pack, with a handy bee identification wall chart and a small pack of wildflower meadow seeds. I have recently been inundated with wildflower seeds! 😀

 

Friends of the Earth Bee Saver Kit

Red Tailed Bumblebee

The wall chart helped me ID a bee visiting my chives. It was a first sighting for 2017 of the red tailed bumblebee.

Book I’m reading: I have recently picked up Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns‘. It is by the same author of the wonderful emotive Kite Runner, so I have high hopes it’ll be a good read!

 

Bowscale Tarn

Wild Swimming: A day off work on Friday coincided with some beautiful weather. So I planned on anther swim/walk. This time David and I headed for Bowscale Tarn. With a lovely one hour walk to the secluded tarn and off the tourist track, it made for a wonderful day, even if I did catch mild heat stroke!

 

#walk1000miles

Riley

#walk1000miles: I’ve become a Proclaimer! Somewhere around Bowscale I reached the 500 mile mark! The mileage for this week has been a very healthy 28 miles. Bringing my overall total to 507 miles! I think walks with Riley have helped enormously!

So, that was my week, how was yours?

Until the next Sunday Sevens!

Christine x

Tarn of the Immortal Fish

Bowscale Tarn was the clear winner of my public vote on where my first swim of 2017 should be. Despite that accolade finally going to Crummock Water, I decided Bowscale would be my second!

As featured in William Wordsworth’s 1888, Song, at the Feast of Brougham Castle. Folklore states that Bowscale Tarn is home to two immortal fish, one with the gift of speech. With the weather forecasting sunshine and temperatures reaching the late 20°C’s, there was nothing else for it but to go in search of these immortal fish!

We got to the hamlet of Bowscale at 9.30am after a two hour drive up the M6 to Penrith and then the A66 to Mungrisedale. As we seem to be visiting the area a lot recently, we didn’t even need the help of the SatNav!

There are only a few cottages in Bowscale and it was by these cottages that we parked the car, parking was free! As the road bends right, there is a public bridleway sign pointing towards the tarn. The path was established by the Victorians who would flock to Bowscale Tarn much more than people do now. The path was very quiet and we only saw one other person with his two dogs.

The walk to the tarn took one hour. The pathway was well defined, gravelly underfoot but there was no worry of getting lost! The sun was blazing hot, even at 10am! The sparkling blue of Bowscale Tarn appeared like a mirage, it was a welcome sight!

Bowscale Tarn

Bowscale Tarn

A good few hours was spent at Bowscale, picnicking and sunbathing, before sliding my sun kissed body into the cool waters of the tarn. I found the shallows to be very muddy and my feet easily got sucked down into the vegetation. It was a feeling I did not like!

Occasionally a mean wind wiped over the tarn and the water glistened like there were a myriad of tiny stars dancing on the surface. The silence of the place was only broken by the chatter of pipits nesting in the heath-land.

And of the immortal fish? I never seen head nor tail of them, other than wrestling with a rubber trout I had brought along for the fun of being silly!

Have you visited Bowscale Tarn? Been lucky enough to see the immortal fish? I’d love to hear of your stories attached to this place.

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

A Dog’s Viewpoint.

Today, I heard a knock at the door. I started barking to alert mummy that someone was at the door! Stranger! Stranger! Mummy went and opened the door and in stepped Christine with a smile on her face. It wasn’t a stranger after all! I wagged my tail and went looking for a toy to give to her. Maybe she has come to play with me? ‘Do you want to go to the park, Riley?’ Christine said. Yes, yes please! Mummy strapped the harness on my back and then David walked through the door. David my best friend! I ran to give him a sniff. I followed David outside and into the big red car that sometimes makes me sick. Christine sat next to me and I looked out of the window as houses and people sped past. It all became a blur.

We finally stopped and David helped me climb out of the car. I was so happy! I could see the park! There are lots of smells here and the first thing I did when we walked over the road was add my scent to a tree. Riley was here!

We all walked a path that lead to a lake where lots of birds sat on the water. I got so excited that I pulled a little, I wanted to catch all the smells, sorry! There were lots of people walking in the park too, some with doggy friends. Hello, sniff. Hello, sniff. Hello!

My favourite part of visiting the park is the big green field where we run and play fetch together. Today, we had the field all to ourselves while swallows flew overhead. I could have played there all day!

All too soon we were back at the car. Christine gave me a drink of water. I was thirsty! I panted all the way home, pant, pant, pant, but I was very happy. I had enjoyed my walk.

Do you have any doggy friends? Where is their favourite place to run?

Waggy tails,

Riley  

The Iron Men!

Another Place (1997) by Sir Anthony Gormley was first exhibited in Germany before being permanently situated at Crosby beach in 2005. The idea behind the instillation was to test ‘tide and time, stillness and movement.’ Seeing the 100 iron casts (of Gormely’s body), stretched two miles along the beach, all looking towards the horizon is deeply emotive. Seeing the instillation during a high tide, the men’s bodies are submerged, leaving only their heads showing. Somehow it makes me think of resignation, like the men are giving up. At low tide the men are just watchers, deep in contemplation. Everyone will have their own interpretation.

Over the years the tide and weather have left their mark on the iron men. Barnacles cling to some while others turn red with oxide, highlighting that environment and time effects everything.

David and I have visited Another Place several times over the years, in all types of weather. This weekend we decided to take Riley along with us. The journey took 20 minutes from Liverpool and we found ample car parking at Crosby Coastal Park where there is a lake and adventure centre. There are now car parking charges. We paid £1 for two hours.

As it was Riley’s first visit to Crosby beach, we introduced him to the iron men. He sniffed around their feet and even offered his favourite toy for them to play fetch with him. It was cute watching him interact with them. I’ll finish the post with a collage of pictures of our day at the beach.

Anthony Gormley and Riley

Christine, Riley and Anthony Gormley

Have you visited Another Place? What were your impressions of the art exhibit?

Thanks for stopping by,

Christine x

Sunday Sevens #30

I wasn’t going to participate in this weeks, Sunday Sevens, devised by Natalie. Having been a full week at work, I thought there wasn’t much time for anything else. However I have a few updates which may interest you. So here’s my week!

Wild Swimming: Sunday saw David and I head for the Lake District to walk among the Rannerdale bluebells and to have my first swim of the new season in Crummock Water! I hope there will be many more swim/walks to come.

Wild swim at Crummock Water

Hawthorn Tree

I.Ding a tree: This week, on my walk in-between bus stops to work, my olfactory receptors have been under assault by a rich, sweet scent. A Path I take is flanked with hedges that have white blossom. I didn’t know what species of plant it was, so I went in search of answers. I Used the Woodland Trust’s British Trees ID, and discovered it was a Hawthorn Tree. Most commonly found in hedgerows and also known as the May tree as it blossoms predominantly in May. If you would like to know more about the Hawthorn follow this link for videos and useful information.

#walk1000miles: With leaving for work a little earlier so I can walk longer between bus stops and getting back into a routine on the treadmill means my mileage for the week has been 28.8 miles, which is my best yet! Bringing my overall total to 453 miles!

Collecting: While counting the petty cash at work, my boss, Sue and I have been scouring the 50p’s in the hope of finding more Beatrix Potter coins. During the week, we struck lucky and found a second coin!

Beatrix Potter 50p

The Kite Runner

Book I am reading: I managed to get through The Lonely, it seemed a story about nothing as everything was alluded to. I have now picked up The Kite Runner. I bought the Kindle version last year and forgot all about it, until this week when I was thinking about what book to read next. I am enjoying it so far, the narrative is well written.

Nestle Plan Bee: Recently I thought I would try Nestle’s Shredded Wheat – Honey and Nut cereal. I was excited to read on their packaging that they have an initiative of offering free wildflower seeds with any purchase.

• Did you know, that 97% of UK wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930’s.
• 70% of UK crops depend on bees to survive.
• Since 1990 the UK alone has lost 20 species of bees and 35 are considered under threat.

With the help of initiatives like Nestle’s, we can all do our little bit for bees and other pollinators. All you need to do is go to www.nestle-cereals.com/uk/en/plan-bee, buy one of the three cereals with the offer, and enter your details along with the cereal box’s bar-code. My seeds took a week to arrive and I was over the moon! I just have to find some space in my yarden to plant them now! 🙂

30 Days Wild: If free seeds from cereal companies wasn’t enough, I received my Wildlife Trusts’s 30 Days Wild pack on Friday. Among the goodies was a huge wall poster, stickers and a small packet of free wildflower seeds! I also ordered a pack for businesses as I liked the face masks featuring a fox and bunting which will grace the yarden. I am excited for this years’ 30 Days Wild. I cannot wait to see what wonders I will discover! June is only a few weeks away! Have you signed up?

Cooking: I had a culinary melt down this Saturday. I just didn’t know what to cook! There are so many recipes online, but I didn’t want to cook any of them! I was just in a funny mood! So while I was crying, David stepped in and rustled up a reasonably quick vegetable masala. The microwaved potatoes coated in turmeric and garlic were a revelation!

Vegetable Masala

aquilegia

Visiting cat

The Yarden: To finish off this post, (I’ve seemed to have waffled on longer than expected). I will share some photos of the yarden. The aquilegia has bloomed yet again and has many heads for the visiting pollinators. On Friday David and I were cleaning up from feeding Hoppy (the pigeon) and her friends, when the friendly cat that has been visiting the yarden walked along the wall and jumped down to say hello. She is a very friendly cat, a bit too friendly! We watched, as she trampled my cat mint, rolling around in ecstasy. We think she has a human family as we only see her around 7pm of a week day. I’d hate for her to be a stray and homeless.

So, that was my week, how was yours?

Until the next Sunday Sevens!

Christine x

Into the Blue.

I have been so excited to share my latest adventure with you all! On Sunday, David and I spent a leisurely couple of hours walking the Secret Valley of Rannerdale.

With an early start to the day, and a two and a half hour drive north, we met 2000 cyclists along the A66 embarking on the Fred Whitton Challenge. On our arrival at Crummock Water, we parked the car at South Beach. I watched as people donned wet-suits and took to the water with orange tow-floats. I itched to follow them in! The weather was glorious, blue skies and bright sunshine, but with a fierce, biting wind.

Crummock Water

David and I took the road leading away from Buttermere to Rannerdale’s National Trust car park where there is free parking, but we arrived too late to enjoy this privilege. From this car park is a path leading around Rannerdale Knotts, to the valley of Rannerdale.

Rannerdale Bluebells

The month of May is the best time to visit due to the abundance of bluebells that have become a historic feature. Even from a distance you can see the blue haze of the fields and up close their scent is intoxicating! Local folklore suggests that the bluebells grow here due to a battle between Cumbrians and Normans after their invasion of 1066. The Normans were defeated yet the blood that was spilled spawned the many heads of bluebells.

Bluebells and Whiteless Pike

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From Rannerdale, we retraced our steps back towards the shores of Crummock Water. As the day lengthened the numbers of walkers and day trippers swelled. The shingle beach we were hoping to visit was full of families enjoying the spring sunshine. So we walked along the road until we noticed a small secluded cove.

From this cove I excitedly stripped to my tankini, donned my neoprene boots and gloves and strapped Wilson to my torso. I waded out into the agitated waters of Crummock. Terence the turtle suggested the shallows were a balmy 14ºC but with the wind that whipped across the water, it felt much colder!

Swimming in Crummock Water

Swimming in Crummock Water

I was in the water for around 10 minutes. I really didn’t want to get out. I was having so much fun! With piercing blue skies above and green mountains all around, Crummock Water was wonderful! There were even people paddling past in canoes. Crummock looked very different to the first time we visited, you can read about that adventure here. If it had been warmer and the waters calmer I would have stayed in for longer. Swimming against the wind tired me out quicker. Shivering I came out of the water to be dried by the unrelenting wind. I got dressed quick enough and soon warmed up once back at the car with a hot flask of coffee.

Crummock Water became my first swim of 2017 and what a welcome introduction it was too! I am so happy to be back in the water again!

Until my next swim!

Christine x

Sunday Sevens #29

Once again I thought I would participate in this weeks, Sunday Sevens, devised by Natalie.

Delamere Forest: The bank holiday Monday saw David and I venture to Delamere Forest, for a six mile walk. Neither of us had been since we were children. We had never seen a forest so busy! Families Gruffalo hunting, cyclists and joggers all jostled along the woodland paths. Instead of a leisurely walk in nature it became too overwhelming for David! The only wildlife we did spot was black headed gulls squawking on Blakemere Moss, speckled wood and orange tip butterflies.

Delamere Forest

Blakemere Moss

#walk1000miles: The walk around Delamere aided my rather sedate week of walking, and has brought my mileage for the week to 25 miles, meaning I have passed the 400 mile mark!

30 Days Wild: I applied to be a featured blog on this years Wildlife Trusts’ My Wild Life. Last year I followed many bloggers who were participating in June’s 30 Days Wild and learned something new almost daily. For me, part of the experience was the camaraderie in blog-land, everyone was just so lovely and the sharing of nature enriched my June. I look forward to this years 30 Days Wild and hope to make some more wildlife friend bloggers. Why not follow the link above to join in!

Wildlife: Linking in with the above, David and I have recently bought a bird box for robins. Hopefully we can encourage them to nest or at least give some shelter to those in the area.

Robin nest box

Bee oasis

I also purchased some marbles this week and placed them in my poppy feeder. I topped the feeder up with water and hopefully it will be a restful oasis for passing bees. The marbles I read, give the bees something to stand on while drinking, save them drowning.

Yarden: The yarden at the moment is looking verdant. One particular plant that seems to be doing well this year is the clematis.

Clematis

The Lonely

Book I am reading: I’m 100 pages into Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Lonely. It’s a slow burn at the moment. Hope the narrative picks up!

Collecting: I managed to find my first Beatrix Potter 50p! David collects the 50p’s but he didn’t have any Beatrix Potter ones, until Friday, when I found Peter Rabbit!

Peter Rabbit 50p

Do you collect any of the Beatrix Potter 50p’s? If so which ones have you got?

Well, that was my week, how was yours?

Until the next Sunday Sevens!

Christine x

A Tale of a Dunnock and a Robin

This spring our yarden has once again been visited by dunnocks and robins. David had the inspired idea of putting my action camera in the ground cage feeder, in the hope of getting some footage of our little feathered friends. The trial was a success and we got some wonderful footage of a visiting dunnock (who seems a little poser) and a flighty robin.

Robin:

Voted the UK’s National bird in 2015, and featured at number 7 in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch 2017. The robin is recognised by many due to their red breast. Their sweet song can be heard all year round, not just in the spring. Both sexes look alike but their young are speckled brown. However cute they look they are very territorial and can fight to the death!

They are of similar size and have the same diet as the dunnock, hence chasing dunnocks from gardens.

Dunnock:

I have to admit, the dunnock is one of my favourite birds. This small, quiet bird flickers about the undergrowth snatching at insects. The male’s short, yet cheery song is mostly heard of a spring but I have heard them singing come Christmastime. They are, like the robin, a ground feeder, eating insects and berries. They will eat seeds and suet come winter. Their nests are often parasitised by the cuckoo. They have colourful sex lives, most are polyandrous (one female to a number of males) or polygynous (one male to a number of females). This ensures that more than one mate will tend to the young.

I have been bowled over by how good the footage of the dunnock and the robin is. It is definitely a technique we will attempt again, perhaps on the hanging feeders!

Which garden bird is your favourite?

Thanks for stopping by,

Christine x